Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

March Madness 2014: Louisville survives a scare; SDSU needs OT to beat New Mexico State

Terry Rozier, Rhamel Brown

Louisville guard Terry Rozier (0) drives for the basket as Manhattan forward Rhamel Brown (5) defends during the first half in a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 20, 2014, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Luke Hancock hit two huge 3-pointers in the final 1:19 to help Louisville finally shake free from tenacious Manhattan, 71-64 in the NCAA tournament Thursday night.

The defending national champions were down 58-55 with less than 4 minutes remaining -- getting outplayed for most of the second half -- before coming alive from the 3-point line.

Silky smooth guard Russ Smith, who finished with 18 points, got things going with a game-tying 3 from the wing. Hancock delivered the knockout blows. He stole an inbound pass, got fouled and made both free throws. He hit the first of two daggers with 1:19 remaining and then sank a wide-open look from behind the arc with 28 second left.

Those shots propelled fourth-seeded Louisville (30-5) into the round of 32, where it will face fifth-seeded Saint Louis on Saturday in the Midwest Region.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- In the fourth and final overtime game on Day 1 of March Madness, San Diego State outlasted New Mexico State for a 73-69 victory.

New Mexico State's Kevin Arnois made a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in regulation Thursday night to push the game to overtime.

The four extra periods were the most in a single day in NCAA tournament history.

Xavier Thames scored the first basket of the extra session and the fourth-seeded Aztecs (30-4) never trailed. Thames finished with 23 points for San Diego State, which will play 12th-seeded North Dakota State -- an overtime winner itself over Oklahoma earlier in the day.

Seven-foot-5 Sim Bhullar had 14 points and seven boards for the 13th-seeded Aggies (26-10) before fouling out in the OT. Daniel Mullings led the Aggies with 18.

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.